Depression-era novel author to hold signing
By JEN MATSICK (jmatsick@reviewonline.comArticle Photos
Fact Box
Nyda Wrightsman book signing
"Our House on the Hill"
When: 1-3 p.m. July 11
Where: Borders Express, Beaver Valley Mall
MONACA, Pa. - Author Nyda Wrightsman will hold a signing for her book, "Our House on the Hill," at Borders Express in the Beaver Valley Mall from 1-3 p.m. on July 11.
The book, which chronicles the life of the fictional Jackson family in Depression-era Maryland. Though the family is fictional, their experiences are based on Wrightsman's childhood in Deer Park, Md., in the 1930s.
"My sisters and I, a few years ago, went back to the place where we grew up, and there were so many memories that came back," Wrightsman said. "I felt like somebody should write it down."
Wrightsman stated that she had wanted to do the book for a while, but with eight children, sitting down to write a book was hardly possible.
Wrightsman finally found the time to pen the book at the age of 81. However, "Our House on the Hill" was not Wrightsman's first venture into writing.
"I had a few poems published years ago, and I wrote music when I was a teenager," Wrightsman said. "Until I was married I was a country music singer and I wrote my own songs."
Wrightsman stated that she decided to write the book to show that the current economic recession is not as bad as it might seem.
"So many people have been telling me that we're in a depression, and I say, 'no way,'" Wrighstman said.
Wrightsman stated that she also wrote the book in order to preserve the memory of what life was like during the Depression.
"I just decided that there aren't very many people left that remember the Depression," Wrightsman said. "It wasn't just that we didn't have electricity and water - nobody did. But we didn't have anything else, either."
Wrightsman has plans to publish a second book, which is a sequel to "Our House on the Hill."
"People who have read the (first) book want to know what happened next," Wrightsman said. "When I finished that book, we had moved from one place to another, to look for a better life."
Wrightsman stated that she plans to call the second book "Make the Best of It."
"Our House on the Hill" was published by Publish America, Inc., and was released on Dec. 15, 2008.
Wrightsman currently lives with her daughter in North Carolina. She has a daughter who lives in Chester and a son in Wellsville.
